Monday, November 19

An Indian Muslim Author/Journalist speaks!

Muslims in India are the only Muslims in the world who have enjoyed 60 years of uninterrupted democracyDelving into the issue of Muslims being a minority in India, Akbar said, "In demographic terms, Indian Muslims have always been a minority, whether historically they were in power or not. When the Mughals were in power or when the Nizams ruled Hyderabad, did the Muslims of India think of themselves as a minority?"According to him, the issue of minority and majority in India is not about numbers but about empowerment.Describing the strength of Indian democracy in this context, he said, "The Brahmin has always been less than one percent (in demographic terms) since the time of Brahma. But have they (the Brahmins) ever thought of themselves as a minority? "What our constitution has done is to put the Dalits and the Muslims on equal footing with the Brahmins."On the flip side of this equality and multiculturalism, Akbar said, India is the only country in the world where every religion, except Buddhism, has produced a terrorist."After the 18-year-old was given the vote in 1989, no government has been re-elected in India," he said.Stating that the new generation voters were not influenced by the dogmatic views of the older generation, he said, "The 18-year-old had no time to be cynical. We got the anger of youth in our political system."